Celebrating all cultures all year long

It’s Black History Month, and it’s times like these that I’m grateful that I home school my children.

I can remember that when I was a student in public schools, Black History Month focused on blurbs of the same individuals year after year. Usually those persons included Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and other celebrated figures of the civil rights movement. Add a few actors, athletes and musicians of the time and that was the sum of my black history curriculum.

Home schooling has given me the opportunity to first not designate only one month to learn about black history. We can learn about black history all year long. Actually, I don’t make it a point to make our curriculum Afrocentric, but multicultural. We learn about all cultures throughout our school year. I think that is especially important because we interact with so many different cultures and ethnic groups. I want my children to respect their own heritage and that of others.

Second, it gives me an opportunity to go beyond the one page blurb that is normally written in school textbooks. We don’t use any textbooks for our curriculum except for math. We get books from the library dedicated to those individuals we want to learn more about. The library is a literal gold mine. I like to stack up with at least five books on a person or a part of history. Sometimes you may find a new nugget of information in each. I find that the more information I provide for my children, the more they absorb it. It sticks with them longer than a blurb.

Best of all, we don’t have to limit ourselves to those persons who have made celebrity status. We learn about those unsung heroic figures in our family and local community.

One person I admired and considered an unsung hero was my husband’s late grandfather. He served in World War II and owned a successful family grocery store. He told stories all the time about his childhood, his courtship and marriage, and time served during the war. He was a God-fearing man who gave his time and his substance to those in need. My children are too young to remember him or his stories, but we share our memories of him with them often.

Besides learning about different cultures from books, we also take the opportunity to attend multicultural fairs and festivals. These events are typically held throughout the year and most are free. My husband is into the foods, and I love the art and music. It helps that my husband and I are interested in different cultures, and our excitement tends to rub off on the kids.

I know that everyone doesn’t have the opportunity to home school their children, but that doesn’t mean we can’t teach them to appreciate other cultures. There are resources available in libraries, the Internet and within the community.

Lessons and activities about different cultures can be wonderful way to spend family home evening or any other family activity.